In recent years, we have seen the emergence of terms such as “organic cashmere” or “bio cashmere” from different brands, sometimes even specialists in cashmere. But what do these terms really mean for cashmere ? But what do these terms really mean for cashmere ?
Organic cashmere is practically impossible to find on the market.
Cashmere itself is a material that is relatively close to the organic spirit. The goats live in nature or on small farms. There are no large herds; they typically have around 300 heads, which is relatively few. Unlike some farms (salmon, pigs, etc.), the goats do not eat pellets or processed products; they feed on grass when they are in nature or on forage when they are in enclosed pens.
Thus, the goats have a rather healthy life compared to other farms. However, this does not make them “organic” in the literal sense.
The only way for cashmere to be organic is to be GOTS certified. The GOTS certification, or Global Organic Textile Standard, is an international leading certification for textiles produced from organic agricultural fibers. This is the only guarantee that cashmere is organic.
However, the quantities of GOTS certified cashmere available on the market are minuscule, and for all practical purposes, impossible to find. Or they are available at exorbitant prices. The production of GOTS certified cashmere is almost nonexistent because there is such a high demand for cashmere that farmers do not feel the need to pursue certification. They generally already consider themselves organic and do not see the benefit of proving it through a label. It should be noted that GOTS certification is very demanding, and it will be easier to apply in farms where the goats are sedentary for traceability reasons. Meanwhile, by nature, goats belonging to nomadic herds and traveling in search of pastures already respect the organic spirit to a much greater extent.
There are indeed a few tons of GOTS certified hair produced each year, but they are immediately captured by a few luxury brands, generally Italian, who then offer their basics in 2-ply starting at €1000.
In summary, you will not find organic cashmere on the market, and certainly not at reasonable prices.
However, at Mahogany, we have not given up and are pursuing several avenues with the goal of releasing a capsule collection in organic cashmere in the coming years.
And what about organic cashmere or organic cashmere ?
Organic cashmere is an invention of some cashmere spinning mills, mainly Chinese, that sell yarn under the misappropriated label “organic” or “organic,” which is made in the natural colors of the goat.
In fact, “organic” and “bio” are synonyms. Therefore, only GOTS certified cashmere should be called organic. You can see that this is never the case for brands that use these terms.
The use of the word organic is clearly greenwashing, if not a complete scam.
Regulations are in progress on these pseudo-eco terms, but they will take time to be applied, as is often the case. In defense of the Asians, the word bio does not have exactly the same meaning in Europe or the United States. Here’s an anecdote to illustrate: four years ago, our brand Mahogany was approached to buy organic cashmere yarn. We buy our yarn jointly with our knitter based in Nepal for 18 years.
We asked them to check with the spinning mill if the cashmere was indeed organic, that is to say, bio. The honest answer from our Nepali partners was, “But Philippe, of course the cashmere is organic, since it comes from goats that live in nature…”
In conclusion: even though certifications are demanding, we can see that they serve a purpose ! 🙂
